CU Buffs Football

CU football: Eyes of Buffs' recruiters are on Texas

CU steps up efforts with six scholarship offers at one school

DeSoto (Texas) High School offensive lineman Xavier Newman is one of six players from his school who have scholarship offers from Colorado. (Courtesy photo)

Since hiring co-offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator Darrin Chiaverini in December, the Colorado football team has expressed a desire to expand its recruiting network in Texas.

So far, the Buffaloes are putting those words into action. According to Rivals.com, CU has already made scholarship offers to 30 players from Texas for the class of 2017, six of those from DeSoto High School, just outside of Dallas.

"Colorado is making a bigger effort to come recruit our kids," DeSoto head coach Todd Peterman said. "They've already had a bigger presence here than they've probably had in the decade that I've been here."

Peterman said that in addition to Chiaverini, CU assistants Darian Hagan and Jim Jeffcoat have made visits to DeSoto.

CU's presence has impressed Peterman and the DeSoto players.

In particular, offensive lineman Xavier Newman has Colorado very much on his radar. A 6-foot-4, 285-pounder who can play anywhere on the line, he didn't have any scholarship offers until CU's offer came in on Jan. 29.

"They were the first to see me and take a chance on me," said Newman, who now has 10 offers, including from Colorado State, Kansas State and Missouri.

Newman doesn't have a star rating at Rivals.com but is sure to get one as he garners more attention.

Advertisement

Newman is actually one of three standout linemen for DeSoto. Edward Ingram, who is 6-3, 315, is rated a four-star prospect and has 13 offers, 11 from Power Five conference teams, including national champion Alabama. Hyrin White, a 6-foot-6, 275-pound tackle, is a three-star prospect with a handful of offers.

CU has offered all three linemen, and Newman said he and Ingram are "really close."

"We're good friends and we have discussed going to the same school, but we're just going to let it play out and see how the next couple of months go," Newman said. "I'm going to commit (to a school) before the season starts, late summer."

In April, several DeSoto players are planning to take an unofficial visit to CU. In addition to the three linemen, the Buffs have offered scholarships to receivers K.D. Nixon and Laviska Shenault and safety Isaiah Stewart. Nixon and Shenault both have four-star ratings.

"They're very interested (in Colorado)," Peterman said. "If not, they wouldn't be coming up. They're not going to be out on sightseeing tours; that's not what this is about. They're about going and visiting institutions and universities and seeing what they're about and seeing if it may be a fit. There's a real interest."

CU has had one DeSoto player in the past. Patrick Williams played at CU from 2005-08 and is one of just 13 players in Buffs' history to catch at least 100 passes.

Williams is currently a graduate assistant with the Buffs, and Peterman is proud to see a former DeSoto player find success in Boulder.

The Buffs are hoping to add more DeSoto players in the near future, and Peterman would love to see that happen.

"We're excited to have Colorado back in the mix and aggressively recruiting our kids, for sure," he said.

Billionaires, entertainers and athletes alike announced their intentions to pursue the Los Angeles Clippers with varying degrees of seriousness Wednesday, proving the longtime losers will be quite a prize if the NBA is able to wrest control of the team away from Donald Sterling after his lifetime ban for racist remarks. Full Story

Louie, who (like Louis) is a New York comic and a divorced father of two daughters, knows struggle and angst and cloudy wonderment. He views life through eyes with a stricken look, dwelling in a state of comfortable dread. Full Story